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Crappy Hotel "Cable" Report - Bedford Park, IL

KML0224

KML0224

Hello all! I just had a 2 night stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites hotel, on the Bedford Park, IL side of South Cicero Avenue (IL Route 50) near Chicago-Midway Airport. Here's what little I saw:

0- Welcome Guide
1- Interactive TV 3
2- WBBM (CBS) channel 2 Chicago
3- USA
4- WPWR (MY) channel 50 Chicago
5- WMAQ (NBC) channel 5 Chicago
6- WGBO (UNI) channel 66 Joliet
7- WLS (ABC) channel 7 Chicago
8- ESPN
9- WGN (CW) channel 9 Chicago
10- HBO
11- WTTW (PBS) channel 11 Chicago
12- Interactive TV 2
13- WFLD (FOX) channel 32 Chicago
14- Disney
15- MSNBC
16- ESPN 2
17- CNN
18- CNN Headline News
21- TNT
22- TBS
23- Discovery
24- The Weather Channel
26- Cartoon Network
27- C-Span
28- Golf Channel
29- HGTV
30- Food Network
31- CNBC
32- Travel Channel
33- TLC
34- ESPN News
35- ESPN 2
36- FOX News Channel
37- Hotel Information Channel
39- AUX

NOTES: WBBM looked like it was an off-air pick up because it looked like crap. WFLD was even worse, also seeming to have interference with another station. There was no WCIU-TV (IND) channel 26 or WSNS-TV (TEL) channel 44 at all. ESPN 2 was on this lineup twice, although the graphic had said "ESPN Classic". Strange. I wonder how different things would've been if the digital switchover had fully took place last week? Oh well! While at the airport, one restaurant had on WGN-TV channel 9, crappy analog reception and all.
 
Wow, what a circa "90's" lineup. I'm sure Dish or Direct commercial sales would love to get their hands on that account. Even LodgeNet could improve that lineup.
 
I guess they don't use the local cable provider. Which I guess would be Comcast as Chicago has a Comcast Sports Net. And something about the list, no Nick but they give Cartoon Network.
 
Ken said:
I guess they don't use the local cable provider. Which I guess would be Comcast as Chicago has a Comcast Sports Net. And something about the list, no Nick but they give Cartoon Network.
Click to expand...

They proabaly are using either Lodgenet or another company. The channel 0 gives it away, as it is impossible for a cable company to do a channel 0. The TV is not doing the tuning, but a box hidden somewhere in the room is tuning (With a sensor picking up commands from the remote).

Comcast in Chicago is 100% digital, so I assume that hotel had no choice.
 
Ken said:
I guess they don't use the local cable provider. Which I guess would be Comcast as Chicago has a Comcast Sports Net. And something about the list, no Nick but they give Cartoon Network.
Click to expand...

Also, note how high up on the channel list MSNBC is. Hmmm, wonder if a certain former Illinois Senator lobbied for that... ;)
 
Most hotels have crappy cable. Last June I stayed at the Motel 6 in Southington, CT and there were 19 or 20 channels on the lineup. 3 were unwatchable. 2 were had poor reception and 1 was in Espanol. This Motel 6 gets its cable from DISH NETWORK rather than the local COX franchise. I would assume they have it hardwired into something somewhere in the hotel. I know it was DISH NETWORK because of all the commercials for DISH NETWORK PAY-PER-VIEW.
 
At least some of the over the air channels were on their normal channel numbers. A few weeks ago I stayed at a hotel in the Buffalo, NY, market where they sorted their channels in alphabetic order, first OTA then "cable." This meant, for no good reason, that channel 2 was on channel 7, channel 4 was on channel 3, and channel 7 was on channel 2. I guess they did it to make channels "easier to find."
 
No hotels in the Chicago area seem to have actual cable and, no, not all of the suburbs are 100% digital at this point. I know because my system (which serves Arlington Heights, Northbrook, etc.) isn't. Some actually have WORSE lineups than the one you've listed. Before my transfer here, I stayed in a lot of hotels in and around Chicago (as far out as Naperville and Aurora) and none offered all of the locals. Only a couple offered WCIU, most did not. Some didn't even offer MY 50. And, it wasn't a pricing issue either. Some of the nicest and most expensive hotels had the lowest number of channels on offer.

This is a pet peeve of mine actually; probably because I travel a lot and like to check out the local television offerings. In a lot of cases, they don't even try. You get few channels and lousy reception of those. Two weeks ago, I stayed at a Comfort Inn near San Francisco International Airport which had no more than 15 channels and had NO NBC affiliate! Apparently, they never bothered to update their "system" when KRON went independent and KNTV-11 took over as the NBC affiliate for the market. No KOFY, no MyNTV affiliate, no CW either. But, 4 ESPNs. If you just MUST watch something on ESPN-U, then you were in business at this place. Left me wondering what idiot set up their crappy system.

The night before, I stayed in a hotel in San Jose that was better - but still nothing close to cable. Again, the local indie wasn't offered, but at least they got the rest of the major locals. But no NBC? That took the cake.

Yet, I stop in a similar (but lower priced) Comfort Inn in the little town of Litchfield, IL (50 mi from St. Louis) and they offered a FULL analog cable lineup. So, I got to check out all of the network affiliates and indies from the St. Louis and Springfield/Decatur markets. Cost half as much as the hotel at SFO too. Go figure.
 
I don't even expect much from hotel stays anymore. I go by the advertised number of channels..I'm not even that concerned about cable channels..I don't mind a 20-25 channel system so much if it has all the main local stations..preferably on the right channel numbers.
 
I once stayed at a Days Inn in Charlotte and found about 60 channels on the local cable, including the now-defunct Turner South!

pabsungenis said:
At least some of the over the air channels were on their normal channel numbers. A few weeks ago I stayed at a hotel in the Buffalo, NY, market where they sorted their channels in alphabetic order, first OTA then "cable." This meant, for no good reason, that channel 2 was on channel 7, channel 4 was on channel 3, and channel 7 was on channel 2. I guess they did it to make channels "easier to find."
Click to expand...

Wait a minute... If Channel 2 = WGRZ, Channel 4 = WIVB and Channel 7 = WKBW, why don't they just leave the channels in that order?!
 
The hotels that I have stayed at. A Days Inn and Best Western both used the local cable which was Comcast and it was fine with over 70 channels.
 
BRNout said:
No hotels in the Chicago area seem to have actual cable and, no, not all of the suburbs are 100% digital at this point. I know because my system (which serves Arlington Heights, Northbrook, etc.) isn't. Some actually have WORSE lineups than the one you've listed. Before my transfer here, I stayed in a lot of hotels in and around Chicago (as far out as Naperville and Aurora) and none offered all of the locals. Only a couple offered WCIU, most did not. Some didn't even offer MY 50. And, it wasn't a pricing issue either. Some of the nicest and most expensive hotels had the lowest number of channels on offer.
Click to expand...

I was actually hoping to see WCIU-TV (IND) channel 26. I was curious to see what this channel had to offer. What else sucked was how ESPN 2 was on this lineup twice, although the graphic with the channel had said "ESPN Classic". Hmmm! I had a Philips TV in the room, with no way on the TV or remote to adjust the sound or picture quality. There was also an old Nintendo Game Cube control with a coiled cord attached to the back of the TV. I kid you not!
 
The real treats on the basic Chicago lineup are WCIU's digital subchannels - which I am sure won't be seen in any hotel in the near future. Me TV, Me Too and This collectively have lineups of classic TV shows and movies. As they're only offered on digital cable, they won't be seen in hotel rooms anytime soon. Which is a pity for out of towners.

As for WCIU, it has the soul of the old WSBK (like from the 70s and 80s). Independent fare interspersed with classics like the Saturday night Stoogeathon, which is followed by "Svengoolie" a local host who dresses in costume and acts as host to old (sometimes bad) scary movies. Last weekend they had one with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Campy stuff, yet entertaining. Props to Weigel Broadcasting for keeping the old spirit alive!

http://www.wciu.com/
 
You mean I missed out on that? Damn! WCIU's chief engineer even used an Insignia converter box in his digital demonstration on the website. I can get channel 26 here...OK, it's WHPX-DT (ION) from New London, CT. Darn! :(
 
We're discussing crappy hotel "cable". Is this a great country or what?
 
Are there any hotels/motels left in the US that offer NO TV at all as far as the guest rooms are concerned ?

The only hotel I ever stayed at over they years that didn't offer TV was at the infamous and now defunct Heritage USA outside of Charlotte. A group of us stayed there ( hard for me to admit that now LOL ) back in 1985 and I remember our room didn't have a TV which I found to be a bit odd considering how well known TV stars Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker were at the time.

I know it has since been changed but in some of my old Las Vegas Fordor travel books ( mainly from the 80's ) Fordor claimed at the time that some hotels in Vegas didn't offer a TV in the room as they want you in the casino..not in your room watching TV. Interesting the many of times I had stayed in Atlantic City..always had a TV in the room there.

What about the Disney resorts in Florida and California? Wonder ehat kind of set-up they have there? Tons of Disney related channels?
My mother-in-law some years back stayed at a hotel in Memphis and I remember her telling me that her hotel offered FOUR channels of non-stop Elvis Presley movies. Of course her hotel wasn't far from Graceland so what did she expect :D
 
mleach: we went to Disney World in January and stayed at the Boardwalk, a Disney-owned hotel. The room came with a 42" widescreen HDTV. ABC, the Disney Channel, and the now defunct Toon Disney were clustered at the front, then the other OTA channels. However, we didn't spend too much time watching television.

DToTheJ said:
Wait a minute... If Channel 2 = WGRZ, Channel 4 = WIVB and Channel 7 = WKBW, why don't they just leave the channels in that order?!
Click to expand...

Because that would make sense? I used to live up that way and was confused as hell when Channel 2 and 7 were on each other's numbers. At first I thought there might have been an affiliate swap while I was away, but when I couldn't find Channel 4, either, I was confused as hell.

Then I looked at the channel list. "2. ABC, 3. CBS, 4. CW, 5. FOX, 6. MY, 7. NBC..." No call signs or actual channel numbers on anything.

Personally, I would rather have digital cable systems map the same way DirecTV does: put local channels on their local channel number, and everything else starting at 100.
 
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